Kaytranada lights up All Points East 2024, 16/08/2024

Intricate choreography, futuristic light shows, and an audience doing the electric slide – here are our highlights of All Points East 2024

My fitness app may have recorded 30,260 steps in total for day one of 2024’s All Points East, but every single step was worth it when it meant seeing some of the best that R&B and electronic music have to offer. Headlined by genre-bending producer and DJ Kaytranada, day one of All Points East brought a jam-packed line-up of international acts to Victoria Park. From NYC native Kitty Ca$h to homegrown DJ Donnie Sunshine to Afrobeats superstar Tems – the sunny Friday in August played host to exciting acts from all levels of stardom, leaving no room for breaks. A high-energy party from start to finish, here our highlights from day one of All Points East 2024.

The DJs

Yyre

Opening the BBC Radio 6 Music stage, Manchester native Yyre laced their set with hyperpop, Chicago juke, ghettotech, hi-speed-garage and more, greeting attendees with high bpm soundtrack on entry. Yyre has been a regular for BBC Radio 6 Music as an emerging artist this year, hosting an episode of The Ravers Hour and playing an opening set at Radio 6 Music Festival in March. This momentum promises more high-bpm, energetic sets from the Manchester DJ – definitely one to watch.

Donnie Sunshine

At the Coca-Cola Studio, the familiar sounds of 80s R&B-pop classics such as Janet Jackson‘s ‘Pleasure Principle’ blend with the vocal stacks of Beyonce’s ‘Heated’ to make a soulful groove that only Donnie Sunshine could provide. The Coca-Cola studio’s entry was bookmarked by two larges vats of complimentary Cokes, but the refreshment came from Donnie’s sets, which drew from funky house, alternative R&B and Baile funk to make the perfect summer soundtrack. So much so that people spilled out the entry and exits to the Coca-Cola stage, trying to get a sip of Donnie’s sunshine.

Kitty Ca$h

The first DJ at the East Stage – which was All Points East’s main stage this year – Kitty Ca$h’s DJ set started as a drop and ended as a tidal wave, drawing in a larger and larger crowd as she went on. The Brooklyn DJ’s taste ran the gamut, playing soulful house classics to her own original tracks and edits, including electro-R&B hit ‘Can’t Shut Us Down’ and Thundercat collab ‘Time Machine’. Ever the genre chameleon, Kitty embraced the local London crowd by sprinkling jungle, D&B and UK garage edits in her set, much to the joy of a dancing audience.

Felo Le Tee

“Felo, we wanna partaaay!” was the resounding chant throughout South African amapiano DJ Felo Le Tee’s sundown set on the BBC Radio 6 Music stage. Transforming the outdoor space into what the South Africans affectionately call “groove”, the amapiano breakout star guided the audience through piano mainstays such as ‘Abo Mvelo’, ‘Chipi Ke Chipi’ and his own mega-hit, ’66’ – all while the onstage MC led us through the staple amapiano call and responses, one of which took inspiration from Felo Le Tee’s own song ‘Dipatje Tsa Felo’ – the MC would call “Dipatje….!” and the audience would respond “Tsa Felo!” in perfect timing with the music. Many audience members took pleasure in doing the accompanying viral dances for each song, from Umlando to Bacardi, with complete strangers all in unison. The spirit of dancing caught Felo, too, as he came out from behind the decks during his closing song, ‘Yebo Lapho’, to perform a small bit of choreo alongside the MC.

The vocalists

Channel Tres

The premier force in Compton’s genre-bending vanguard, Channel Tres’ slick East Stage performance was unlike any other. Complete with backup dancers, experimental camera work and glossy visuals, the rapper, DJ and multi-instrumentalist brought his dance-hip hop fusion to All Points East with a flair that only he possesses. Dressed in all black with leather trousers and dark sunglasses, Channel Tres took us through his illustrious catalogue from SG Lewis-produced Robyn collab ‘Impact’ to newer single ‘Drip Sweat’ with Kaytranada to 2023 hit, ‘I’ve Been In Love’. “I come from a place called Compton California,” he told us proudly, but this is evident in the small details from the way the dancers wear their bandanas as accessories to moments between the rapper and the dancers where they dap each other up and incorporate elements of West Coast movements in their routines. The highlight of this set is his performance of ‘All My Friends’, where he jumped off the stage to perform directly to the audience members in the front row, before utilising every part of East Stage by running backstage and performing directly to a cameraman, with a live feed for us on the large monitors. “When I come back, I better see everybody with their hands up!” he instructed us, and gladly, we obliged for the final drop of the song, when Channel Tres returned to the main stage without missing a beat or a breath.

Thundercat

A frequent collaborator with many of the acts on the lineup – conveying his knack to fit in any genre – bassist, producer, songwriter and vocalist Thundercat brought his off-kilter humour and music to the East Stage, alongside his drummer Justin Brown and GRAMMY-nominated keyboardist Dennis Hamm. With quips about “oversharing”, love and heartbreak, and jokes about the lyrics of his songs, Thundercat endeared a large festival crowd to his awkward and relatable charms, whilst displaying impressive and inimitable bass skills. Fresh off the release of his funky cat-themed single ‘The Orange Cat’s Special Time Outdoors’ from the reboot of the children’s show Yo Gabba Gabba, the multi-disciplinary artist maintained a childlike whismy throughout his sonically sophisticated set, which included hits such as ‘Funny Thing’, ‘Dragonball Durag’, and closing with ‘Them Changes’. His crooning falsetto and jazz-funk instrumentals are a welcome change of pace between the high BPM sets of the day, creating a the right environment for fans to punctuate his performance of ‘Them Changes’ with a convivial electric slide.

Victoria Monét

One year on from the release of her GRAMMY-winning album, JAGUAR II, R&B singer-songwriter and superstar – the jaguar herself – Victoria Monét returned to UK stages with her sultry East Stage set. Opening with summer single ‘Alright’ – a collaboration with headliner Kaytranada – Monét meant business in her slick Janet Jackson-inspired trench coat and fedora, performing intricate Sean Bankhead choreography in a jungle-themed set design. The singer-songwriter treated fans to a flurry of hits across her discography, guiding the audience through sensual R&B ballads ‘Moment’ and ‘F.*.CK’ to G-Funk-tinged uptempo hit ‘Coastin’ to Lucky Daye duet ‘Smoke’, which was prefaced with “Is weed legal here? Don’t get arrested!”. Her jovial demeanour during and between performances of her setlist multiplied when she introduced her daughter, Hazel, on video as an interlude before launching into full-throttle performances of ‘We Might be Falling In Love’, ‘Ass Like That’ and her titular track ‘Jaguar’. The pièce de résistance is her closing song and breakout hit, ‘On My Mama’, which saw a crowd of 30,000 people singing along word for word while an emotional Monét thanked the London crowd for their love and support. If this set is anything to go by, we’re in for a showstopper of a tour in her next era.

The Headliner – Kaytranada

The party was in full force by the time our headliner made it to the stage, and, in a way that only Kaytranada can, reached even higher levels with the addition of the Canadian DJ’s Haitian bounce funk dance tracks. Also keen to embrace the London vibe, Kaytranada performed in a custom look from London designer Martine Rose, and made sure to check in with the audience, “London? How are we feeling! Are we ready to party?”

The visuals were projected onto six 2001 Space Odyssey-style monoliths, varying between retro black and white live footage of Kaytranada’s performance at the decks to galaxies, flashing lights, digital confetti and more. The futuristic stage production was matched by his catalogue of future classics, with songs drawing on old hip hop samples, breakdance culture, 70s funk, contemporary R&B and everything in between. From 99.9% hits ‘Lite Spots’ and ‘You’re The One’ to BUBBA‘s ‘Need It’ and ‘10%’ to his own remixes of songs by Beyoncé, Kelela and Rihanna; Kaytranada’s All Points East set kept the audience dancing with 100% of their energy at all times.

His setlist jumps from album to album, era to era, making sure to create the most space for his most recent release, Timeless, including PinkPanthress collab ‘Snap My Finger’, sultry club track ‘Please Babe’ and a reprise of Channel Tres duet ‘Drip Sweat’, which Channel Tres joined him on stage to perform. Concluding with a pyrotechnic light show, and a jubilant dance in front of the decks, the DJ-producer bid goodnight to the crowd, closing All Points East day one with a party to remember.

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Photo credits: Sharon Lopez, Khali Ackford, Isha Shah